Maintaining a new behavior is the most challenging part of any behavior change.

Characteristics of Maintenance

Helpful Strategies

Maintaining a new behavior

Avoid temptation

Develop coping strategies to deal with temptation

Remember to reward yourself for success

If you are trying to maintain a new behavior, look for ways to avoid temptation. Don’t place yourself in a high-risk situation. Use positive self-talk, “What can I learn from this?”

Reward yourself when you are able to successfully avoid a relapse.

Plan Ahead. Use a weekly/daily planner.

If you do lapse, don’t be too hard on yourself or give up. Instead, remind yourself that it was just a minor setback. Relapses are common and are a part of the process of making a lifelong change.

Never let a few days, or even weeks, of falling back into bad habits discourage you from fighting to reestablish the good habits you want. Always remember: none of us was born with any habits at all. They were all learned, and can all, therefore, be unlearned. The question is: how badly do you really want to change?

Prepare a Behavior-Changing Agenda:

Journal

Use a daily planner

Write down your goals, list specific strategies, set specific targets

A LAPSE does not necessarily mean a RELAPSE. Focus on the successful part of the plan (“You did it for six days; what made that work?”). This shifts the focus from failure, promotes problem solving and offers encouragement. The goal here is to re-engage in the change process. Set realistic goals to prevent discouragement, and acknowledge all the positive steps you have taken toward behavior change.